About last night …

I hate to be a glass-half-empty guy – especially after spending Sunday cocktail hour at the Bell Centre – but that was the New York Islanders on the short end of a 4-2 score.
The guys from Long Island are, arguably, the worst team the Canadiens have played this season.
OK, maybe Calgary … but out heroes, as you’ll bitterly recall, lost to the Flames.
Despite a couple anxious moments, there was never much danger of losing to the Islanders, who were playing their second game in two nights and wrapping up a four-game road trip during which they were outscored 16-6.

(Gazette photo by Dario Ayala)

So some sage advice from Donnie Downer – initials DD, like the struggling centre who got two minutes of power-play time Sunday night:

Don’t pick out your spot for the parade just yet.

A sterner test awaits the Canadiens Tuesday night, when Tampa Bay visits the Bell Centre. The Lightning sit atop the Eastern Conference with a 12-4 record and a plus-15 goal differential. Tampa bay is 5-2 on the road, 8-2 in their last 10 and riding a four-game win streak into Montreal.

The Canadiens are on a one-game win streak. Beating the Islanders spared them the ignominy of matching the five-game losing streak of Feb. 19-28, 2012 … when the fifth loss was at Tampa Bay.

The win moved the Canadiens past Ottawa into the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot. The Senators, however, have a game in hand.

What I liked about the win can be summarized by the title of a Who classic.

And barring injury or ill-advised trade, Lars Eller, Brendan Gallagher and Alex Galchenyuk are going to be more than alright for a long time.

The line combined for three goals and eight points against the Islanders. They were named the Three Stars of the game – and if that’s happened with one of the Canadiens’ forward lines in recent times, it escapes my imperfect memory.

Best of the three was the CH crest-kissing Galchenyuk. It was the first three-point game of his young career – but it won’t be the last. The phenom his teammates call “Chucky” is the most promising young forward this team has had in a long, long time.

In the weeks leading up to the 2012 draft – in which the Canadiens, by virtue of finishing dead last in the Eastern Conference – would have the third overall pick, I bought The Hockey News Draft Preview issue. THN had Galchenyuk rated seventh, behind his Sarnia linemate, Nail Yakupov, Filip Forsberg, Mikhail Grigorenko, Ryan Murray, Matt Dumba and Morgan Rielly.

Galchenyuk had suffered a pre-season knee injury and played only two regular-season games in his draft year. Then the Sting were knocked out of the OHL playoffs.

What caught the eye, however, were Galchenyuk’s stats with his midget team in Chicago – 44 goals, 43 assists in 38 games – and his first season in Sarnia: 31 goals, 52 assists in 68 games.

Had he not been injured, Galchenyuk – a workout warrior who wowed scouts at the pre-draft combine – might have pipped Yakupov for first overall draft pick. As it was, he was still available when the Canadiens picked as Edmonton took Yakupov and Columbus selected defenceman Ryan Murray.

Galchenyuk began the 2012-’13 season in Sarnia – 27 goals, 34 assistsin 33 games – and then surprisingly made the Canadiens’ roster out of abbreviated, post-lockout training camp. He did not set the league on fire last season – 9 goals, 18 assists while playing a shade over 12 minutes a game – and was overshadowed by the spectacular rookie year posted by Gallagher, his linemate and road roommate.

Galchenyuk has three goals and 11 assists while averaging 15:38 per game this season. His 14 points trail P.K. Subban’s 17.

Among the team’s LWs, Galchenyuk has eight more points than Rene Bourque, who averages 16:30 ToI, and 11 more than Max Pacioretty, who plays more than 17 minutes per game.

The Canadiens have brought Galchenyuk along slowly, and that’s probably a good thing. It’s almost certain he will end up playing centre, but after trying him at that position during the Canadiens’ road trip to Minnesota and Colorado, which produced two losses, coach Michel Therrien moved Galchenyuk back to wing and reunited him with Eller and Gallagher.

They’ll be together for a while. Against the Islanders, the kids were the easily the Canadiens’ best line … and my fellow half-emptyites might suggest EGG are the team’s only top-notch line.

The jury is out on that. I saw some grit from Max Pacioretty, whose five shots on Kevin Poulin were second to Galchenyuk’s six.

The jury seems to have rendered a verdict on David Desharnais, with even Montreal mayor-elect Denis Coderre tweeting the suggestion that DD be given “a one-way ticket to Hamilton.” If Daniel Brière is ready to return to the lineup against Tampa Bay, we could see him between Michaël Bournival, who is on pace for 23 goals, and Rene Bourque.

In becoming the first opponent this season to be outhit by the Canadiens (18-15), the Islanders did not unduly tax a defence corps that is vulnerable to the forecheck any time P.K. and Andrei Markov aren’t on the ice. Francis Bouillon played 18:22, but that included three easy minutes on the power play. Raphael Diaz had four of the team’s 23 blocked shots – one stop fewer than Carey Price.

From where I’m sitting, Alexei Emelin can’t get back into the lineup soon enough.

Ditto for Brandon Prust.

The kids ARE alright, but they’ll need help as the Canadiens start playing Eastern Conference rivals.

• Stat of the Night, from Guillaume Lefrançois of Radio-Canada: The average age of Canadiens goal-scorers against the Islanders was 21 years, three months.

• Another stat: Pierre-Marc Bouchard’s second period goal broke an 0-for-24 drought for the Islanders’ power play. The goal also ended a 21-for-21 run of perfection for the Canadiens’ penalty-kill.

The Defence urgently needs Emelin back. The defence has played OK but they’ll need to pick it up a notch if we’re going to be more than just a bubble team. There’s times where they’re caught in their end and out muscled way more than they should be. Emelin will help that for sure.

And yes, they need more help up front too. The EGG line currently has to play lights out for us to consistently win games. Pacioretty needs to pick it up big time.

I agree Hobie that Emelin will be great to be back but goal scoring can’t just rely on the Egg line all the time. We do have some balance but the most sustained pressure always seems to be when the kids are on the ice.

I am waiting for max to come back to form a bit. He drove the net last night which is a good sign. Would have been nice for him to get the monkey off his back though

Maybe, just maybe, Briere finds his touch. You never know, I just desperately don’t want to see both DD and DB in the lineup. As Hobie alluded to down below, we cannot have all our smaller forwards dressed for the same game.

I wonder if we’re just not better off sending DD to Hamilton. Having him in the pressbox does nobody any good. Let him play without the crushing pressure and maybe he’ll rediscover some form. With healthy bodies on the way back there’s just no room for him right now.

AS far as I can tell, we have two extra parts on forward with our current make-up. We simply have no room what-so-ever for DD OR Briere, and I cant see how it will be possible to move either of them, even for next to nothing, their cap hits are simply too high. In my opinion we are ONE big mobile defenseman (even once Emelin returns) AND ONE gritty winger (Prust style) from being a contender… I think Braydon Coburn (someone of that caliber) and Jesse Winchester (big body, good at faceoffs, will fight and can score- 7pts already) both may be available given that they are playing with Phi and Fla… not sure we have the pieces to acquire them but if we want to be competitive I think we need to ice the best possible lineup each game (NO DD, NO BRIERE, NO PARROS, NO MURRAY)

Yep.
I didn’t mention him in my summary, but it bothered me afterwards.
He is always right there, taking quick shots that take goalies off-guard and create rebounds, grinding along the boards and making clever plays.

He and Pleks are cut from the same cloth, and it’s great to see them developing amazing chemistry. They look like they can read each other’s minds. Now if Max can tune in…

Give Briere a shot on the third line and see if he gets better. I have a bad feeling he will not and will be hurt again just after Christmas.

DD looks like he lost his mojo. I dont’ expect him to be back to the form that he had with Cole and Max but in the same sense he has never been this bad. He really looks like he lost his confidence. It is too bad he could not go play a handful of games in Hamilton without having to clear waivers. I think that would actually do him some good.

Agree, just as we see pitchers in baseball who lose their control or curveball, I think DD has truly lost his mojo, confidence. He doesn’t shoot hardly anymore, is missing passes, he just looks scared out there. Hamilton indeed would be good for him, but, will be hard on his ego. Perhaps that may be the problem, but I am spitballing, i don’t pretend to know his attitude.

I could see him getting claim. Not 100% sure it’d happen, but I think a team that (obviously) has the cap space and non-existant offense may claim him in hopes of fixing him.

He’s two season removed from 60 points. Last year he posted the equivalent of 48 points. The skill is there, a bottom feeder who seems no real hopes of improving for 3 or 4 years may take a flier with him to a) fill up cap space b) hope he regains form.

To me, he now seems like the type of offensive player that bounces between Expansion teams and teams early in a rebuild.

My dad passed away in the Spring of 1999.
He had lied about his age to get into the army, and was a WWII war vet.
He didn’t share too many stories because not too many of them held a positive light. But he certainly was proud of the legacy that he and his army compatriots left behind so that our society of today could live in peace and harmony.
I still have the last poppy he wore.
It’s seen better days, but it’s still the most glorious one I’ve ever worn, or will ever wear again.
To all of the war vets, be they here or beyond, I tip my hat to your courage, selfless motivations and the lives that too many of you gave up so that we may have a better life.
I hope the young of today realize why they’re here, and why they lead the lives they lead.
All of you, without exception, take a minute, and say thank you. I did.

Mtl should bring up their big young D men and let them make mistakes in big league games. The only real scoring come from the same line and subban-Markov. DD been set up more times than anyone else and seems to never hit the puck. (ENOUGH ALREADY) Play to build,make the playoffs or not, but move forward already.

Quietly going about his business, Carey Price finds himself in the elite section of NHL Goaltenders so far this year.

Whatever Stephane Waite has brought, there is a big difference this year in Price.
( Remember the sliding on pads laterally when Price would end up about 8-10 feet outside his posts?)

For Goaltenders that have started at least 50% of their team’s games:

Price Save Percentage:
.929 ranking him 5th in the NHL/3rd in the Eastern Conference.

Price Goals Against Average:
2.20 ranking him 9th in the NHL/5th in the Eastern Conference.

As a team, Habs Goals Against Average per game stands at 2.17 ranking them 4th in the NHL and 2nd in the Eastern Conference…and some deserved credit should also go to Peter Budaj who has posted a 2-1 record with a .953 SP and 1.34 GAA.

Several have made mention about the supposed or perceived poor 5X5 play by the Habs, yet as of today they rank 13th in the NHL and 5th in the Eastern Conference.

If the Bottom 6 ever starts to produce, look out…and yes, a certain step can be taken to kick start that.

I sometimes have to question the attention being given to Carey not “sliding way out of position” any more. He still slides from side to side but lately there hasn’t been a goal scored on him where he is moving in one direction and the puck deflects into the other side of the net. I was a goaltender for 40 years and when a goal goes in you put your head down and say ffs, the last thing on your mind is to plant and stop sliding in the direction you are going. There was a goal early this year where that happened and I’m sure if the redirect didn’t go into the net before he had a chance to react, he would of planted and pushed off in the other direction. Another prime example of this was last year in our 3-1 win over Ottawa in the playoffs when the only goal scored on him was a puck heading for glove side that he pushed hard to get into position and it redirected to the opposite corner without giving him any time to react to the redirection. He ended up about 10 feet out of position on that goal too, and I’m sure he won’t stop his slide the next time this happens either because there is simple no reason to stop once the puck is in the net. Carey has played many stretches in his career as well as he is playing now. What I am seeing is that he has not played any bad games yet, sure he has had a few 4 goal games, but seldom were the goals to any fault of his own. I would like to credit Waite tho with maybe having Carey more prepared and focused and making adjustments to his game to let his athleticism and natural talent play a part in how he plays goal, as opposed to him being a robot. I just think the over-sliding has been over-analyzed.

I equate the ” not going down so quick ” to the not being robotic I mentioned earlier and allowing his athleticism and talent to play the position. I do agree, just that when I saw you mentioned the over sliding, it reminded me of when I saw it being discussed earlier in the year, and I had never given my opinion on it before.

You can look at his stats, his consistency, his role at both ends of the ice, his crucial role on the PK, his ability to irritate other teams without losing his cool, his use in shutting down top players, the fact that he is rarely injured, the huge number of Faceoffs Therrien has him take, his always responsible play, etc. etc.

But – anyone that thinks he is anything less than one of the most valuable players on this team has not WATCHED HIM PLAY. They just haven’t. Pleks is to smart two-way play what Gallagher is to goal-mouth scrambles.
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Listen to the Smart Dog. He knows his poop!

As much as i cannot find any excuses for D.D. `s lack of productivity i can only say that Desharnais made less damages in 15 games than Parros in 3 games. Let`s keep that in mind. I agree that there may be better options but it remains to be found.

About mayor Coderre comments from yesterday one has to know that he is a big Habs fan and that every game he makes comments but now that he is mayor he get quoted from them. Obviously being a mayor does not make you more connaisseur than some here (cough cough) and between you and me, if a guy like Marinaro can voice his opinion daily then anybody can and should !

ridiculous post – complete non-sense..less damage than Parros? not quite – the amount of ice time he gets, his lack of productivity, terrible defensive play, awful face-off stats and Parros does more damage in 5 games…get a grip.

Not a ridiculous post. Rather a post with a point of view differing from your own.

I am a fan of the fact George Parros joined the Habs. Perhaps mostly because he will be a symbol of toughness, specifically in games against Boston and Toronto.

Having said that, he was highly ineffective in the games he played in after returning from the concussion. His plus/minus was horrible, his line was caught flat footed many times with the opposition scoring.

Just Me’s post was not an attack on Parros, but rather a simple comment directed that while DD has been very ineffective, others on this team have also had nights where they are ineffective.

I fail to understand the need to attack a poster, when his/her view is different than your own.

I’m late to the party, but have to say this post was worth making, Burly. AK can choose either to think about it or ignore it, and he is entitled to keep coming here either way. But in general it’s best for the site if posters aren’t confused about the difference between disagreeing and insulting. Glad you spoke up.

I am not blaming Parros ,i am stating facts.
We always say that injuries are part of the game and that every team has to deal with them . True. But what it does with the Habs is we have to overplay guys like Parros, Bouillon ,Murray ,White and have to keep young players in the pressbox. Parros needs to play against certain teams , that`s why he has been hired but against some teams he is just not in the same league. Same thing with Bouillon, he is a veteran that was supposed to be used sometimes but not all the games, he has a big heart but is getting slower.

So in that sense i say it is not Parros fault if he has been used against faster opponents but he does allow more damages that D.D.

Stay classy. Why insult the guy like that when people can say the same thing about your comment. The facts are that the Habs are 0-5 with Big George in the lineup. The facts are that Big George is a -5 while only playing close to 20 minutes of ice time. I was personally elated when I heard yesterday that he was going to be a healthy scratch.

don’t understand this “Parros is hurting us rants”. he was brought here as an enforcer, not to score/defend goals, citing his plus/minus etc. is crazy, never has been his role. Therrien assumes some responsibility for the way he uses him, I have seen him on the ice against top tier lines, why? his last fight, Therrien put him on the ice in the o-zone after some clown hit Murray, I don’t think we need to respond to a hit on a hulk like Murray. we had a goal nullified off the face-off because Parros new why Therrien put him on the ice. DD cannot play effective 4th line minutes, he needs the press box or Hamilton.

Well put,. On Fox Sports game trax they show you on the screen whatever happens (ie goal by or hit by), a since I was following that, there was a hit on Murray. then 2 seconds later Fight with Parros vs who ever it was. Not a staged fight as the anti fight crowd called it but Therrian’s good response to the hit on Murray and Parros doing his job.

Nobody said that the timing of the response was not unfortunate. Hiis performance is largely based on how the coach chooses to use him. Parros has had very little playing time (due mainly to his injury but also due in part to his very limited role). You could say that he has essentially just started his season without the benefit of preseason game experience. I do recall a lot of admiring comments concerning his performance vs the Leafs during that first game prior to his injury.

Do not come here often no more cause there are too many negative and thus false fans in my book writing here.

But i could not stay away and not pay my respects to all men and women serving our country all over the world over the ages. I may be against war but i can appreciate the grandeur of the sacrifices that some made and are still doing . May god bless you all.

Bench DD and put Briere on DD’s roster spot. Not much of an improvement, if any, if you ask me. Tomorrow’s game against the Bolts should be a win for us (fingers crossed). The Bolts play a tough early afternoon (1PM EST) game against the Bruins today before our game tomorrow.

Shane, I guess you were not happy with the connotations of the word “holiday”, which can suggest fun and festivity, but keep in mind that holiday literally means a “holy day”, which is why we are not supposed to work. No offence intended by me here. Both my grandfathers and three of my great-grandfathers fought in the World Wars, I would not disrespect the members of the armed forces.

During the 2nd period last night, the Habs were on the PK leading 1-0 at around the 4 minute mark.

At one point, ALL 4 Habs were stuck in the corner within about 5 feet of each other ( Diaz-Gorges-Gionta-Eller) leaving Okposo completely alone in front of the net, and only a brilliant Carey Price save kept the lead at 1-0.

The 4 Habs in the corner were battling….2, then 3 Islanders.
Some simple math would conclude that 2 Islanders were completely alone and free.

Not sure, but I think it was a mistake for the fourth player to also go in.

In general, when the second defensemen leaves his post in front of the net to help in the corner, he needs to be almost sure he will come out with the puck. It is like a defensemen pinching, in that you only do it if you are fairly sure you will get the puck. Like a pinch that goes wrong that usually results in a 2 on 1, when the second defensemen fails to come out with the puck, you will give up a good chance. I don’t mind the tactic, but it has to be executed well at the right time.

It is intentional. The philosophy being that if you collapse on the loose puck when it’s to the perimeter, rather than the traditional collapsing to the net, then you can prevent the puck from ever getting to the net. When using this style, it can put you at an advantage by having a 4 on 1 Or 4 on 2 puck battle. However, as you pointed out, if you lose this puck battle then penalty killers are all out of position, but because the play was on the perimeter, they usually can get back to position, but not always.

This team was built to have three scoring lines, with each picking up the slack when the other two can’t produce. The reason why we had this losing streak and why our record is so bad, is that there is only two lines producing so far. There is only one assist between David Desharnais and Ryan White. It’s forgiveable in the case of White but DD is hurting us. I thought before the season began that Desharnais was a wrong fit for this team but I still thought he would produced more than he had. His confidence is so shot that he’s painful to watch. I really believe that the last chance he has to revive his career is to go to Hamilton and get his confidence back. Considering Therrien didn’t have the guts to make him miss more than one game, things don’t look promising.

Last night I was sitting with some hockey dads my age at the local midget game. They were talking about today and how it’s a holiday for them (they are government employees) and I calmly explained to them that it’s not a holiday but a day of Remembrance. There is a huge difference but apparently I and one other man were the only ones (6 men) that cared to wear a poppy.

Truly sad how people forget how close they came to living in a world run by savages. I can’t imagine how we would live had others said, no thanks I’m not storming that beach. No thanks, let them kill each other. No thanks, women don’t need to read or write. No thanks, they can push their religious views on us.

Personally I say thanks to all those who have served, and to all those who helped defeat evil and I’m not talking about just soldiers, I am talking about everyone. The underground, the fire brigades, police, ambulance, hospitals, and anyone who has died as the hands of evil.

This is the hardest day of the year for me. You know me, I have depression caused by a lot of different factors. I can’t even listen to our National anthem with tears flowing. It take’s every bit of strength I have to not pass out at the last post and I feel guilty every day that I lived and my friends didn’t.

I’ll be at the Montreal ceremony at McGill, as I am every year.
My grandfather fought in WWII for the French-Canadian 22ime Régiment in Italy, Holland, and Germany, survived, and came home with an English bride and my baby dad. My great-grandfather fought in WWI and was captured at the St. Eloi Craters operation, and spent the rest of the war working on a German farm.

When I go to the ceremonies, I think of them, but mostly I think about how they had to live with the memories of those that they lost.

“I hate to be a glass-half-empty guy.” – Mike Boone before reveling in negativity after a good game by our guys.

I was at the game last night, and I had a great time. Our guys looked good, and we had tons of pressure.

I mentioned it on the previous thread, but just to reiterate:

– Bournival looked amazing; quick and always shooting
– Kid line was brilliant
– What most people don’t see on TV is how Murray was always talking to some Isle as he headed back to the bench, often underlined by some shoves or pokes – keeping them in line without just fighting some random mouth-breather. Loved it.

– Plekanec was amazing. He gets lost in a lot of TV coverage that follows the puck, but he’s always lingering, closing people down, cutting off lanes, and getting ready to pounce on stray pucks. The defence are terrified when he’s covering them because they know he’ll kill them if they make a bad pass – he often kept them passing down the boards rather than across to each other.

Finally, I know it seriously hampers your ability to be a wet blanket, Boone, but at least try to see our d-corps for the solid unit that it is.

We’re FOURTH (4th) in Goals Against Average in the NHL. We block shots and close down their danger guys. How many loose pucks or drifting forwards in the slot do we see on a regular basis?

This ridiculous ‘Oh, our defence sucks apart from Markov and PK’ is getting pretty tiresome. If you’re looking for goals, look to our forwards. If you’re looking for defence, there are 25 teams in the league who would kill for ours.

I understand the blocked shot stats, but another way of looking at that is our inability to play consistent defense is contributing to the total shot attempts, which has us in the top tier in that category.

I had noticed that from Murray also… if any physical action takes place after the whistle, you hear this big booming voice yell out and calm is instantly restored. Or the skate by (the bench) to remind those that consequences lurk for any that try to get too physical.

I noticed Tinordi and Beaulieu weren’t in strong positions a lot of the time. A simple way of guaging (means the same as measuring-sticking) a defenseman’s proficiency is to judge whether it was he or his partner who was the dominant defenseman of the pairing in the game. Seldom were these youngsters the alpha defender. And they were playing with no. 5/6 guys.

I read there was some dissing of Plekanec but scrolled down and saw it was just Timo.

FWIW Plekanec is on pace for a 25 goal 60 point season, despite usually being matched against the other team’s top line. He’s the most used forward on the PK (and our PK has been excellent). He often plays with different wingers.

Despite the greatness of the EGG line, I think TP remains are most useful forward.

Yes, TP like players are an integral part of a winning team. In the near future I hope our younger guys improve and take over the first and second line duties at center. TP would be an ideal third line shutdown/PK center who could bring a good deal of offensive upside.

And yes do not under estimate the influence of Timo! Negative that is.

Sometime this week we will be closer to seeing the team MB envisioned, with the return of Emelin and Briere. The only other key cog in the wheel missing is Prust.

By all reports, Emelin has been re-habbing really hard and had the benefit of the advice of Markov on the recovery. However it is only this season that Markov has been looking back to normal. Gorges also seems better this year, so I am expecting Emelin to be a little slower than normal on the ice. I hope they can get him into the line-up on the left side to help his transition back to 100% health. I’m not sure who he should replace. Probably Murray, but Bouillon has not been great lately either. Either way, the defense will improve.

Briere seemed to be lacking that first step acceleration that is absolutely critical to the success of his game. If he can’t create space from the defender in his first couple of strides, then he is finished in the NHL. If he does have that pop back in his step, he could be an important addition to the offense that is missing a pure sniper. I will be watching him closely to see if he has it or not.

It sure would be great if Pateryn can continue his marked improvement. The team would be arock solid with one more big but yet talented defenceman. Tinordi nor Beaulieu don´t seem to be ready yet, and Pateryn is 2-3 older.

Exactly! Showed genuine emotion directed at his love for the Habs. Was curious that a few teammates apparantly talked to him after the game about it. I don’t mean that in a, Uh-Oh division in the room way. Just curious they did talk about it. He was fine with it, all smiles discussing it.

He should be saying that about his work ethic and his contract. I find it refreshing that he did something like that. It shows he cares and is playing for the team. Unlike DD who is out there floating around and thinks he is playing shinny.

Last night took a stupid penalty which resulted in a goal by the Islanders and instead of being benched, he was out the very next shift. I remember when Lars Eller was doing the same things last year he never seen the ice again.

To you from failing hands we throw the torch, be yours to hold it high.

I thought that was awesome and showed a love for the team! I would feel the same if any hab did that after a huge goal or a pretty play (which that was, gallagher is a machine built for the playing hard hockey and smiling big!).

“It’s been tough,” he said. “It’s been real tough. I’ve paid a high price in terms of my standing within the sport, my reputation, certainly financially because the lawsuits have continued to pile up.”

“I have experienced massive personal loss, massive loss of wealth while others have truly capitalised on this story.”

Understood, yet what is it they actually do to earn +150K per year and much more depending on committees + expenses for well…you know, those all important trips overseas to meet and figure out what exactly?

A win is a win, and we badly needed this one. But I don’t think the Islanders are any worse than the Oilers or the Flames or the Flyers, or even than the Senators looked for the first half of the last game. In fact, they’re not a lot worse than we are. We have better goaltending, but both teams have questionable defence. I look forward to the day when we know the Habs can compete with any team in the League and have a good chance of winning any game. But I fear that day is at least a couple of years away. For now we have to be content with being competitive against bubble teams like ourselves, dispatching bottom feeders, and coming up with the occasional heroic effort against a top team.

To be more positive, the team played a good game, although it took a while to get in sync. Passes at first were off the mark. The kids were sensational, playing by far their best game in a while, perhaps their best all season. Hopefully we’ll see this kind of performance more frequently as they get past the inevitable inconsistency that comes with being a young, inexperienced NHLer.

Raphael Diaz should shoot the puck more. He has a decent shot that, even if it misses the net, is not so hard that it can’t be deflected for a goal.

There are some comments below on Plekanec that I’d like to second. His shutdown job on Tavares was the kind of defensive effort he excels at and for which he gets too little credit. It recalls his performance against the Caps and Penguins stars in our now sadly distant playoff run. That performance was largely overlooked as Plekanec was criticized for not putting up more points.

Benching Desharnais for a game does not seem to have worked. It’s beginning to look as though nothing will work. Despite Brière’s disappointing start to the season, I think he can be more useful than DD has been.

I’ll never understand the knock and disrespect Plekanec receives on this site by some.

As of this moment, he is the 2nd highest scoring forward on the Habs on pace for a 27 goal/60 point season.
His 6 goals to date only trails Gallagher’s 8 goals.

He also has the 2nd best (+ -) for all Habs forwards at + 4 and always plays against the opposition’s best.
That is huge!

Counting this year and after his first year in 05/06, he has always scored more than 20 goals with 1 exception being the 11/12 season when he must have played with at least a dozen different line mates – some of questionable NHL talent.

His penalty kill skills are also second to none in the NHL.
Plex is now 9th in the NHL for total short handed minutes played.

This guy is the consummate pro and if public charisma was not a requirement, would easily be the next Habs Captain.

wow – that was fun…Eller, Galley and Chucky looked amazing…so good in fact I bet the other Habs forwards are a bit irritated – mainly the other “offensive” ones who don’t get to play with good players…

have you ever played hockey? if so – which did you enjoy more- being the best player on your line or the worst player on your line. most people want to contribute but most players want to be at their best – and that happens when you get to play with the good players – not the boat anchors. when you have 1 line which is so obviously much more skilled and effective offensively – you got problems.

Jack, you’d be interested to know that several years ago patches stated emphatically that he saw his role as playing on one of the top two lines, and that it didn’t make sense for him not to be there. So I’d say that, yes, he does indeed want to play in the top 6

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
John McCrae

My grandfather always had the pictures of his two brothers that died in WW1 hanging in his room. When he died, my father hung it in his room. When my Dad died, I hung it in my room and I hope my sons and grandsons carry that tradition forward.

Good game against a depleted Islander roster that kept it close. This was thanks to Toronto, allowing yet another kicked in goal. The Habs are not only up against the other team, they are up against the bs that comes out from Toronto and extremely poor reffing.
Nice to see the EGGs poaching some goals again.

Please commit to an act of Remembrance on this special day (which should be a National Holiday). The bravery and sacrifice of our men and women in the military is surely worth a moment of your time at the very least.
Shout out to Shane and all like him.

And that is what the NHL should do. A fight and you are ejected from a game, a fight in the 3rd period and you get the next game too. Players will still defend teammates and “police themselves”, but coach’s will stop dressing 4 minute goons because they won’t want to play late in games with a short bench.

For anyone that paid money to purchase a ticket last night, the 3 youngsters were well worth the price of admission.

A game that should have never been close almost turned into a horror show.

In French, I believe the saying is “Deux poids deux measures” meaning and roughly translated…” A double standard”

Yes Coach Therrien, we all understand your favourite boy has been in a slump for about the past oh…the last 50 games or so, yet what you did last night is something that leads to losing a room.
The guys aren’t idiots and they see what’s going on.

Starting the 3rd period, the Habs have a nice lead at 3-1, and as Mr. Boone mentioned, “…avoid an early goal and this one will be done and dusted.”

Desharnais gets on the ice and stays on the ice for a shift that lasted 1:43 seconds ( no typo) and is then called for a lazy hooking penalty.

Islanders score and now it’s 3-2 and it’s Game On!

Surely any other coach in any other situation would have made the player ride the bench for a while….but no, not Therrien when it comes to Desharnais ( deux poids deux measures)

Desharnais is quickly ‘rewarded’ with another 6 shifts that almost cost another goal….and that also included a shift starting a Habs Power Play at the 17:24 mark of the 3rd period.

In all the years many of you have followed the Habs, has there ever been anything more ridiculous?
What do you think the guys in the room are thinking when Desharnais is not only NOT held accountable for anything, yet continues to be rewarded with Power Play time?

I doubt it hurts Thierren’s credibility in the room. All those guys probably feel bad for their teammate and want him to break out of his funk. They know the coach is just trying to get him going. If anything, the guys will appreciate what the coach is doing.

But the return of Briere will soon force the coach’s hand, so it will be interesting to see what happens.

You’re right Phil, unfortunately trying to do the right thing and getting DD going is just more “evidence” for those who think they’d be better coaches/GMs. DD and the team know that the clock is ticking in regards to his contributions and ice time. Chances are he will sit soon.

I agree. I think that the rule is outdated. Players now use their skates as a stick. This talent was unheard of twenty years ago. When you see a player corral a pass with his skate without breaking stride while on on the fly, don`t tell me that deflecting it off the skate into the net is an accident.

Finally, a better game by the Canadiens. I could hear the Benny Hill music playing a couple times while they ran around in their own zone after getting up by 2, but thankfully it worked out.

I don’t know about you guys, but when Galchenyuk scored then kissed his CH I was frickin’ pumped. I don’t think I have ever seen a Hab do that after scoring. This kid is awesome, thankfully he didn’t play much the season he was drafted because he would have went 1st or 2nd overall. GHG!

I had no issues with him doing that either, as it showed his genuine joy. Some people had issues with it, and for what it is worth, sounds like some teammates already spoke to him about that as he said he probably won’t do that again.

how someone can have issues with kissing the logo is beyond me and its pretty arrogant! if its done by a one year deal journeymann i would understand the critism but a guy like chucky who hopefully will be a hab for a long time and a future face of the franchise he has every right to show his commitment to the club.

In watching the TSN highlight of Chucky talking about it, he was all smiles. I don’t think there are any issues in the room about how Alex celebrates, I would guess its more of one of those code things. I was more surprised to read about people not liking. It looked like pure unadulterated joy on the kids part, and that I hope we never take from him.

I thought that celebration was great! If I was drafted by the habs I would kiss the CH as soon as I had the jersey on. I had no idea that some people had issue with it. I like guys that respect the team and embrace it like that. You need guys that have passion and who don’t just think about how their points affect their bonuses/next contract. If someone has issue with it, get over yourself. Galchenyuk was the youngest player in the league last year, he appears very respectful and focused (just my opinion from watching games/interviews/24CH), and he is highly skilled. He can celebrate if he wants too. I thought it was awesome.

Yes, that´s what our top 9 should look like when everyone is healthy. I´d still switch Bournival and Plekanec but that´s just a small detail. Either Briere or DD on the fourth line and the other one sits. Won´t happen though.

Chuckie was tied for 1st in assists with Corey Conacher for rookie forwards.
Chuchie also had the 2nd best Plus/Minus of all rookie forwards at + 14 second to only the Hawks Brandon Saad who also had the luxury of playing most of the year with Toews and Hossa.
Calder Trophy winner Huberdeau was Minus – 15.

Chuckie accomplished all of that playing only the 12th highest PP minutes for rookie forwards at 50 minutes.
That was 53 less PP minutes than Gallagher and 70 minutes less PP time compared to Yakupov.

how about DD and Pacs to Dallas. Reyunite that line in Dallas and they might be willing to pay good $$. Do they have anyone really good they would part with in return? Because with Pacs and the promise of reuniting a highly successful line, they mioght be willing to pay

The Gallys and Eller were definitely a treat to watch. It makes any other frustrations about the team disappear. Just a pleasure to see their talents,and the best is still yet to come.
But how about the over shadowed kid Bournival?
Seems like a player that thrives in the faster nhl game,more so than he did in the minors. I would like to see his skills at center in the #3 slot. He seems to have the vision,maturity and hockey smarts to be the next Pleks,more so than Eller IMO.

I was very worried when Gionta, when asked about Bourival`s speed, gave a long answer about why speed itself is not so important. To me, that sounded like a little bit of envy and an effort to slow down Bournival. I suspect that he is having troule keoing uo with the kid. Hopefully, Bourival will not listen to this will force his line to hustle.

With due respect and more, Mike (I am a huge fan), Flyers were also a candidate for “worst team” title, and the fortuitous non-goal call against the Flyers helped generate game momentum in the Habs’ favor. Oilers would garner votes as the worst opponent thus far, including their win in the second encounter with the Habs. It’s just fortuitous the Habs player alluding to their style as junior-like went by the name of Eller and not Subban.

A big question is when Emelin comes back
Does he play with Markov and split our top pair up. They’ve been great, they both bring out the best in the other, but it may be a lot of minutes for Markov, and how would it be for PK to be back with Gorges?

Regardless, when he comes back, he’ll get good minutes, just what will the top 4 be – and who will play with Murray? Bouillon or Diaz?

I hope Emelin will play with Subban or Gorges. He´s just better on the left and our only “leftie” who´s equally effective on the right is Gorges. The most important thing is that our top 4 stay healthy. Sooner or later our bottom pair will hopefully be Tinordi-Diaz and then we really have a good D.

Many seem anxious to see Briere replace DD. But did his concussion also wipe out these people’s memories? Briere has not looked any better than wee Davey. He is slow and unmotivated. I really feel his career is over. I’d prefer to try Bournival down the middle.

In short, a league commissioner is the action man for the Board of Governors.

They tell him what they want done and he works to make it happen through his subordinates while making sure that individual franchises play by the rules.

******** Translated if you haven’t won the Stanley Cup in 40 years your NHL team is becoming irrelevant in a sports mad city long behind MLB, NFL and NBA teams, you just tell the commissioner(who you gave a new contract at 7 plus million per) to make it happen and the rules are bent sufficiently to action the command.

A game against the Islanders, good for what ails ya. Things aren’t exactly clicking right now for les Glorieux, but we’ll take a 4-2 win in which the kid line does all the work. It’s a good way to snap a morale-sapping 4-game losing streak, and to salt away 2 points, these things are precious, better take advantage of our opportunities against Eastern Conference mediocrities.

Lars Eller was named the third star of the game with his goal and two assists, and it was good to see the young man get back on track. Brendan Gallagher, the second star, had a goal and an assist, the latter on a play which showed great hustle on his part and created the clinching goal scored by Alex Galchenyuk. Alex netted a goal and added two assists, and was the game’s first star. So, nice work there boys, keep it up.

I was distracted with NFL-ian matters, but I think I noticed a couple of the current whipping boys contribute to this win. Douglas Murray was a big presence in our zone and cooled some tempers when the Islanders’ fourth-liners were out for mayhem. And Raphaël Diaz, finally, chipped in on offence, setting up Michaël Bournival’s deflection goal on the power play with a nice low slap shot. Mr. Diaz has to bring offence, and revive the second wave of the powerplay, it can’t just be P.K. and Andrei for 90 seconds and then we punt it away. That’s how he can earn his keep and a contract extension for next season.

We saw Michaël Bournival back with Tomas and Brian Gionta at times, which I think is a good idea, that trio was on fire earlier. It’s not a failed experiment, we’d need a larger sample size, but right now Max on their left wing doesn’t seem to work, they’re not meshing. So let’s put the kid’s great wheels back on Tomas’ left, and plunk Max in with René Bourque, and see if that resuscitates David Desharnais. And if it doesn’t, then let’s give Daniel Brière a go between the two big wingers.

Marc Denis repeated tonight that René prefers playing right wing, his off-wing, and we saw him pull a nice move on a breakaway coming down that side. With the left winger penury seemingly over, now that Alex and Michaël slot in on that side, and Brandon Prust and Travis Moen also available on top of Max, let’s see what René can do on right wing. As noted previously, his 27-goal seasons in Calgary were while he was playing on the right side. We’re in a good position to give it a try.

Carey made a couple of spectacular saves, and again did his job stopping 24 of 26 shots he had to face. His save percentage ticked down one point to .929, still among the league leaders. I noticed him mishandling the puck on a couple of occasions, but these stand out because he’s usually so effortless and efficient with the puck. Whereas the great goalies of my youth Ken Dryden and Patrick Roy made venturing out of their nets a heartstopping adventure, Carey at least has that on them, he’s almost like a third defenceman out there. He skates with ease, corrals the puck and puts it on our d-men’s blade before the forecheckers get there.

Travis Moen had to leave the game due to flu symptoms, which might be a blessing in disguise, he can’t feel too comfortable playing his role with a fractured facial bone still mending.

With Daniel Brière’s and Alexei Emelin’s return to the lineup just around the corner, and Brandon Prust out for just a short while longer, the infirmary is clearing out, and the team’s depth returning. It was good to have the Hamilton kids up for short stints, but we’ll be better off with most of our players back and a return to routine and normalcy. And it won’t hurt to have the fringe forwards and defencemen competing with each other for playing time.

———————————————————————–… you know, because there’s no way hundreds of overcompetitive stars with massive egos would ever cheat to gain an edge with hundreds of millions of dollars at stake.–Bill Simmons

Seeing how engrossed you were with the Habs game, I want to let you know the Chargers made a game of it but it wasn’t as close as the 28-20 score suggests. I think Dan Fouts threw TDs to Kellen Winslow and Charlie Joiner.

Too bad about that Chuck Muncie fumble. He was just cruising along, racking up yards, then sure enough, he’s out there in the open field, juking and jiving, in the middle of a big run, holding the ball like it’s a loaf of bread, for all the world to plainly see and swat, and …

Good summary. I personally thought Murray was pretty good last night and I like the dynamic he brings. It is so lazy and simple for many to continuously going on and on about him slow. He does a pretty good job of staying in position, and certainly engages physically wherever possible.

Fun game, regardless if it was against the Islanders – it was still a win. We should break up Pac/Gio/Pleky. Patch is our best forward – and he needs to be with better guys. He excelled when he played with Cole and DD – so I think they should put Bourque on that line, I’d even rather seen Bournival with them. Gio needs to be on the 3rd line

What is a feature of Hockey Inside/Out is that some of the posters are bigger fans of themselves or each other than the Montreal Canadiens. One of the posters attended tonight’s game and remarked on the strong play of Plekanec. Reading adages like Cervante’s “When in Rome, do as the Roman’s do,” or “The pot calling the kettle black,” there seems to be some badge of honour in being witty in sarcastically slamming coach/management/individual players. I use the word witty to be respectful of the intent of posters, in that that’s what they aspire to be. The team won tonight. Their record after 18 games is an accurate reflection of their abilities, a second-tier team. But ya know what….I love the team and will cheer rabidly for them including the players with bad stats. Nothing original in kicking a good man when he’s down.

If Moen is still under the weather come Tuesday, maybe Desharnais only gets demoted to the fourth line with Biere’s return. But barring another injury, he is certain to be sitting-traded-or-demoted when Prust is ready. Can’t see the team keeping more than one spare forward (Parros) with a fully healthy roster.

One effing line team. They beat the Isles, big whoop.
Where was Plekanec line tonight? And I am not even talking about 3rd and 4th lines. Our of the remaining 6, only Bournival is worth anything. The rest is crap. Ditto for the second line, pretty much.

Great thing about Galchenyuk kissing the logo on his jersey when he scored. He cares. So does Gallagher.

This is not a playoffs team. Every team knows that if you shut down the kids line Habs got nothing. Islanders are terrible so they couldn’t.

Timo, I usually agree with much of your outrage but Plekanec’s line was given the task of keeping the John Tavares line under wraps. No easy task. Tavares is a world-class player and Plekanec made him a non factor tonight. Got to give him lots of credit, he may not have shown up on the score sheet but he earned his pay tonight and then some.

Perhaps. I am not as high on Pleks as most people but I do concede that he draws many tough shadowing assignments. However, he is being paid a lot of $$$ and it would be nice if he scored on a semi consistent basis. As far as I know there is no rule that says you can’t score goals if you shadows John Tavares.

I see Plekanec as this generation’s Ryan Walter, a once offensive-minded player turned checker. He really should be playing with Prust & Moen as his linemates on a shutdown line, so Gionta and Pacioretty can focus on doing what they are better suited for: to score goals.

Plekanec has 13 points – more than guys like Nugent-Hopkins/Landeskog/Vanek…so I have no idea where you’re getting this from. Gionta has 4 goals/Plek has 6. Pleky is a solid two-way player, always has been

“…Plekanec’s line was given the task of keeping the John Tavares line under wraps.”

I agree and that is why any production from Plekanec should be regarded as a bonus. Playing the role of the shutdown guy has really zapped the offense out of him over the years, and it has affected Gionta’s game as well. (Did the team really pay him $5 mil/year to be a checker?) I worry for Pacioretty heading down the same road.